Improved switching-apparatus for street-railway cars



@garten gratas @anni @Hirn Letters Paten-t N0.'80,932, dated August 11, 1868.

IMPRUVBD SWlTCHlNlG-AEPARATUS FORvSTREET-RAILWAY GARS.

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TO ALL WHOM ITwMAY CONCERTI: p

Beit known thatI, P. S. DUSOUCHET, ofthe city of New Orleans, parish of Orleans, and State of Louisiana, have invented La certain new, useful, and improved- Apparatusu to be Attached to City-Railroad Gars for switching the same from one track to another; and 'I do hereby declare the following to be Aa full, clear, andV exact description ofthe same,'reference being had to the annexed drawing, making a part of this specification. The object of my invention is to dispense entirely with the adjustable switches that are now inf'general if no t universalluse, and thus to avoid thevexpense that is necessarily incident tofthe keeping of aman, or

I switch-tender, as he is usually called, at every intersection of onerailroad-track by another, or,- in other Words, at every 'point at which a. single track leads .or runs into two or more branches and it consists of a rock-arm that articulates upon the fore-or front a'xle of the ear,'midway between the wheels, between two fixed Aor immovable collars thereupon, and which is operatedthrough the medium of chains, or their equivalents, and

a lever oi' peculiar constructionA by the driver on the car. i

But my invention will be better and more quickly understood b y referring to the drawing, on which it is represented in perspective, as when applied to a car, (the running-gear and lower framework only of the latter being shown,) which stands ou a track near its intersection by another-track.

Thedelineation of the intersection or joining of two tracks isM made in order to exhibit, in connection i therewith, the fixed central short barV or rail,`through the agency of which my apparatus eii`ects the object it is designcdto accomplish.

Upon the drawing, A is thelrock-arm, to which I have referred in the preamble, and B B two projecting' parts, which, it will be observed, radiate from a central sleeve at right angles, or nearly so, to each other. Of

these two parts, is the` arm, which eli'ects Vthe switching of .the car from one track into another, and hence, it `mayproperly be called the guide-ar1n." V

'lhe fixed collars a a upon the axle hold the centre sleeve A of the rock-arm in its place, or, in otherrwords, prevent it from having any transverse or lateral motion. v i Theguide-arm B should be long enough to bring its outer .extremity very near without actually touching the ground, whenever it occupies a pendent orV perpendicular position, and is to act upon the car and force it from one into another track. l .Y

To perform this operation, this guide-arm must bear against something. thatV is fixed and immovable, and ofisuch character that its action upon the arm will force it to take a` direction in its onward movement that is parallel with the line of the rails on the track on which the car is to be carried. A short curved bar or rail, R, midway between the rails, at the point of intersection, as shown on the drawing, is' the simplest and best device or means for fullli'ng these conditions. This bar should be' slightly curved at theextremity, in a reverse direction to the curve that is parallel` with the rails, as shown, in order that the guide-arm, in coming into contact with it, may not strike with too sudden and violent a shock, andv be led gradually into the performance of its function. v

VTo diminish friction between the arm B and the railR, which mayin its turn be designated by the name of guide-bar, a horizontal sleeve-roller may be put upon the extremity of the former, or friction-rollers may be introduced into the rail R, along its entire length', accordingly as the one or the other expedient maybe demcnstrated by experience to be most effectivep An oblique brace, b, which is supported at its foot by a loose sleeve or collar, c, around the axle of the `car,'and bea-rs against thc-arm B, near its outer end, will effectually sustain this-arm against the strain to which Y it is subjected in the operation of switching the car, `the sleeve c being of course sustained by a ixed collaron the axle. This brace, 6, need not extend so near the wheel as shown on the drawing. Y p

To elevate the arm B suieiently to be out ofthe way of any object upon the road, and so as not to i'mpiugc against the rail R, unless the car is to be switched by-its agency, the arnrB is provided, which being weighted, secures this end by its superior gravityover the guide-arm B. But in lieu of the weight 2, a spring may be usedfor the same purpose. i

A chain, d, being secured at one of its ends to the extremity of the arm B', andlat its other end to a c tiniber of the framework of the car, as shown, prevents too low a depression' of the said weighted arm for the quick raising of it at the proper time, in order to lower the extremity of thc guide-arm to effect the switching of the car, whilst the chain e, that is attached at one'oi its ends to a front timber of the car, and at the other tol v tlie guide-arm B near its outer end, prevents said guide-arm from passing beyond a vertical line in the operation of switching, and hence, secures its certain action in that behalf.

- A lever, C, actuates my apparatus. The long arm of'this lever projects above the platform in front of the car,'on which the driver stahds, whilst its short arm is below said platform, and'isthere provided 'upon its rear `side with a. circular projection, g, to which a chain,f, is secured at one of its ends, and tothe outer extremity ofthe weighted arm B at its other, as shown on the drawing. v v y A backward movement of the long arm of the lever C winds the chain f upon the part of its short arm, and drawing up the 'weighted arm B', deprcsses the-guide-arm B by partially revolving it, until itis stopped in a vertical position by the chain e, which is the true-position for `it to occupy in the operation of switchingthe car ofi' the track on which it is running, and/into 'the intersecting,y or, more properly, the radiating or drivingtrack. Hence', it will be perceived that the driver can carry his car upon any track yhe pleases, at his own will and pleasure, without interventioli or assistance from any other pe'rs'on, and without the use of a. movable or adjustable switch. A I

My invention is simple and cheap, and it can be applied to. every existing car,'whatver may be its form or peculiarities of construction', and, in 4consequence of its operating from or upon the axle of the car, it is not obnoxious to the objections that obtain against those which, connected with .the body of the car, have to be adjusted with reference to the elevation or depression thereof, accordingly as the number of passengers in tli'e car happens to be greater or less.

' Having thus fully described my invention, and explained its mode of operation, what I claim, andV desire to secure by Letters Patent, isv A The rocker-arlntA, when providedwith the radiating guide-arm Band the weighted arm B', in combination with the lever C and.' chains d e f, the whole being constructed, arranged, and operating conjointly, substantially as herein described for the purpose setl forth.

P. S. DUSOUCHET.

Witnesses:

RUFUs R. Buenas, H. N. JnNxINs. 

